Little White Lie
by FlowerCrazy
Summary: Story takes place after the end of S1 when we learn things that take place behind the scenes of S1. Spoiler alert for S2.  But its funny how a little lie to a child can have large consequences when they are an adult.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man: Armored Adventures or anything related to Marvel Universe.

Flashbacks will be in_ italics_. Feedback/critique is always welcome and wanted. First time I've written fanfic from a cartoon series.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

"_Mai!" called her mother in a frightened whisper. "Get behind me. Quickly!"_

_The six year old ran to do her mothers' bidding and grabbed a handful of silk fabric as she buried her face against strong legs that would offer her protection against an unknown threat._

_There was an angry voice, another woman. She couldn't make out what she was saying but the threat was there in the tone of the raised voice. Words filtered to her that had no meaning. '…the last…must die…'_

_Her mother's hand reached behind her and tried to sooth her shaking as she tried to speak calmly to the other woman, the warmth of her fingers caressing her hair, touching her shoulder as if to give her courage. As Mai took a deep breath to try and gather the courage her mother was offering her, those strong fingers gripped her shoulder tightly and in a swift motion, pushed her away as the world dissolved into a blinding sickly purple light._

_She could hear her mother screaming in pain before there was silence. The world was dark and she couldn't find her mother as she cried out for her, her small hands reaching out, searching in the dark. She crawled across the uneven ground determined to find her mother. She had to be there. _

_An eternity passed before she heard someone approach in the darkness and felt strong, slender hands lift her off the ground. With a sob, she clutched at the person. The darkness of the night kept her from seeing whom she had taken to be her mother. To her, the world was all right now. Her mother had come for her and she would be well now._

_As she was carried somewhere, her tired young mind began to realize something was wrong. Her mother smelled always of Jasmine. This person smelled of Amber and something else. Her mother would have spoken to her, held her, touched her hair and soothed her with words like she did when Mai woke with nightmares sometimes at night. This person was simply carrying her and doing nothing to comfort her or sooth her fears._

_Shifting, Mai began to try and get out of the woman's grasp. She heard the woman's snarl and felt the hands clutch her tighter but there were no words spoken to tell her to stop what she was doing. She began to fight now, her fear giving her a last burst of energy to free herself. "I want my mother. MOTHER!" she screamed as the stranger carried her further away._

_A sharp stinging slap to her face stopped her yells, causing her to gasp and whimper at the sudden pain in her cheek. Before she could get the courage to try to fight again she felt herself being lifted away from the woman's body and released. The fall that followed made her cry out in fear before her small body hit the cold water of the river that quickly sucked her under with the strong current, forcing water into her lungs and making her choke…_

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><p>Mai woke with a startled cry. She was covered in a light sheen of cold sweat and was trembling as she lay on the small cot. Her heart was racing as she focused her mind back into full awareness and went through the exercises she'd been taught to calm her heart rate, to calm her fears and to regain her composure.<p>

She faced upwards to the ceiling of her small room. It was dark as it always was in her world, as dark as it had become that night twelve years ago. The last thing she had ever seen was that ugly color of purple in a blinding flash of light. She took a few more steadying breaths as she waited for her heart rate to return to normal before she sat up.

A voice came to her from across the hall. "Mai?"

It was a man's voice, gentle yet strong, one she'd come to treasure these past six months. She got up and went to the door of her small cell, counting her steps from her cot and felt the door with her hand, letting her fingers gently slide up it till she found the window in the door with the bars set into it.

"I'm here…," she called softly.

"Another nightmare?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"The same," came her response. In truth, she'd had the same nightmare about once a week or so since being taken prisoner and being brought to this place.

"I'm sorry Mai." There was a pause for a moment as he pondered something. "So what shall we do today since we're now both awake," he tried to joke. "Play chess? Another lesson in Mandarin or shall I bore you with another lesson in quantum physics?" he teased lightly.

She smiled softly to herself. In the face of all the heartache he had been put through, all of the hardship both had been subjected to, he was still able to joke some and draw a smile from her. She could only pray that some day that they would both be free of this place and able to return to the land of the 'living'. He could return to his family and she could return to … well, she would figure something out.

"Please, tell me again about your son, Mr. Stark," she asked politely. She knew it was the one thing he could talk about for hours and it always made him happy. They both knew his son was alive and it was talking about him that gave Mr. Stark hope that he'd see his son again.

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><p><strong>Please review. Thank you.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man: Armored Adventures or anything related to Marvel Universe.

Flashbacks will be in_ italics_. Feedback/critique is always welcome and wanted. First time I've written fanfic from a cartoon series.

Info: I will be gone over the weekend so there will probably not be any more chapters till I get back. This will be mainly a behind the scenes things that has gone on during S1 with Tony/Pepper/Rhodey going off and playing heroics, etc. Yes, there is a reason for this. Yes, it is going somewhere eventually. I like building a good foundation and adding in a new character or two. Reviews are nice writter fodder. Thank you for reading. Enjoy.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

The sound of a sudden strangled gasp and a low chuckle brought Mai out of her restless sleep.

"You cannot do this to me!" came a faint, angry voice from down the hall. She knew this voice only too well since it belonged to the very man that had put her in this cell.

His words made her get up off her cot and move to the door, her hands wrapping once again around the bars. She pulled herself closer to get her head near the opening so she could try to hear what was going on.

"You are not worthy … of the name of ..." The words faded in and out as the thick slabs of stone around her echoed and distorted sounds. She gritted her teeth in frustration. Had something happened to the man she knew now as Zhang?

The response he received from someone was that from a young man but his voice was pitched in a way that it didn't carry well and she could only hear its tone. It sent shivers up her spine at the cold anger the muffled words came back to her with.

Biting her lip she pulled away from the bars just a little. Her mind ran around in little circles of 'what ifs' and many of the theories it came up with did not paint happy endings. If Zhang was perhaps now a prisoner of one of his own, what would become of her? She was 'his' captive. He had searched her out and brought her here. What would become of her if he was no longer in power?

Her mind drifted a little as she tried to listen for more...

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><p><em>She hadn't been approached by Zhang since the night he'd found her leaving the library for the blind where she'd been studying for her senior finals week. In a few short, terse sentences he told her things about her past that only she'd known and when she'd tried to run, he'd had his men catch her, drug her and when she came to, she was underground, in a stone cell. <em>

_He had told her she was here for her own safe keeping and would be kept here until such time as she would be needed for his own purposes. Then he was gone. Since then, her food was delivered to a slot in the door and though she'd asked many times for something to read from her unseen caretaker or something to do, nothing came. There was no concept of time here for her. She had found herself drifting more and more in a lethargic state until the day Howard Stark had arrived. _

_The sound of someone letting out a yell of pain and sudden fear echoed off the walls of the cell across the hall from her, causing her to jerk out of her stupor. She sat there for a moment, trying to comprehend what she was hearing._

_A deep, almost mechanical voice spoke. "This will be your new home until I say otherwise. I will have need of your knowledge and ingenuity as I collect the remainder of the five rings." _

"_But…the plane? What of my son?" came the frantic words from the man who had been brought here._

"_The plane exploded. They will find nothing but wreckage and consider you dead, thus no one will come looking for you. As for your son, he will not have survived the explosion or crash." There was a cold chuckled from that voice that made Mai's skin crawl._

"_NO!" came the cry of horror and anger. "What have you DONE? He's my son! You … You murderer! I'll never work for you!" declared the man._

"_Oh but you will Howard Stark or I will make whatever time you spend with me….quite painfully memorable," came the beings response, followed by a hollow chuckle and then the strangest sensation flowed across Mai's skin as he disappeared._

_Silence followed then for a few moments before she heard one of the most heartbreaking sounds she'd ever remember. The sound of grief. The sound of a man who had just lost his only son._

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><p>Mai heard a soft noise across the hallway, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Pst..Earth to Mai..." came Howards voice.<p>

"Yes Mr. Stark?" she replied.

"Please Mai. How many times…," he started then sighed. He was about to tell her for the thousandth time to not call him Mr. Stark. He knew now was not the time to correct her. Something important was happening.

There was a slight tilt to her lips as she heard his sigh. She knew it drove him nuts but it was a little something between them now, a little connection to keep them both sane. They were both quiet, straining to hear if anything was else said but nothing came except the sound of retreating footsteps and the slamming of a door down another hallway.

As the minutes ticked by, Mai finally broke the silence. "If perhaps Zhang was betrayed, what will become of me? I was only here because of him."

Howard thought this out, knowing a little of her history but he knew she was private about some of it and kept some certain details to herself. He wouldn't pry. He promised himself he wouldn't. She would have to open herself to him about those things.

"Well, perhaps you might be released or things might continue status pro-quo," he replied finally.

Chewing on her lips she sighed, leaning her forehead against the bars. "I will be honest with you Mr. Stark. This scares me."

He sighed, "I know. Just hang in there. You know I'm here if you want to talk."

He'd offered that phrase to her so many times and she'd been several times and yet she always held back. "Thank you but the walls have ears...," she whispered softly hoping he'd get the clue…again. "Or is it that the ears have walls?" she said, trying to turn it around into a joke.

There was a chuckle from across the hall and with that she began to pace the floor of her cell for the third time since her last meal.

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><p><strong>Please review. It feeds the muse. And I like ideas, theories, critiques, suggestions, etc. I do wear big girl panties, trust me. I can take it.<strong>


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